(Photo--Salt Flats with El Capitan in the background)Wind--Friend and Foe
“Way out West they have a name for rain and wind and fire. The rain is Tess, the fire is Job, and they call the wind Myriah.”
I know how boring it is for traveling cyclists to talk about wind (and food, and hills), but, hey, without talking about last week’s wind there ain’t a whole lot interesting because old Myriah was a blow’n and a go’n and just generally stirring things up. Some days she was a real bitch and other days, an angel sitting on our shoulder.
The day started great, a slight downhill and absolute calm. We have a short day planned; only 36 miles. Yeah, there is a small 2000-foot climb up Guadalupe Pass at the end of the ride, but we’re feeling good. And then…. And then……about 3 miles into the ride I feel this slight breeze in my face. After 10 miles the breeze is a pretty good wind and by the time we get 13 miles we’ve got a good size “BLOW” coming at us and our speed is about 6 miles an hour and when the ground starts to tilt up our speed slows down. At around the 19th mile Myriah is laughing through the loud gusts and she knows that she is winning. But Myriah, if you are going to be a bitch today, hell, we just won’t play.
We start looking for a secluded place to set up camp even though it’s only about 3 in the afternoon. At a point where the road cuts through a hill, we leave the road and roll our bike and gear to the top behind a ridge and some small shrubs and we’re home. We will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.
No comments:
Post a Comment